The Sharks have named their side to take on the Western Force in a pre-season friendly at Newlands on Tuesday night. Willem Alberts has been included as part of a 13-man bench, so it’s anybody’s guess as to whether he’ll actually get onto the field.
Talk from Joburg is that Manie Reynecke will file an official complaint on behalf of the Lions as soon as Alberts plays for the Sharks.
The team is an interesting one and it’s a little hard to work out whether it’s a B team or not. Certainly, a number of first choice players, including John Smit, Bismarck du Plessis and JP Pietersen have not been included, meaning this is not the strongest outfit the Sharks could have fielded.
Craig Burden gets a rare start at hooker, while Beast Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis will be on either side. Alistair Hargreaves comes into the second row in the number 4 jersey, where he’ll partner last year’s first-choice, Steven Sykes. Keegan Daniel is preferred at openside, while the 7-8 combination of Jean Deysel and Ryan Kankowski has a familiar look to it.
Rory Kockott, who is apparently no longer first in the scrumhalf pecking order, will start with Monty Dumond, while Riaan Swanepoel and Waylon Murray are the centres. Stefan Terblanche is at fullback, with a pair of young wingers in Lwazi Mvovo and Luzuko Vulndlu sure to be full of running.
Sharks team
15. Stefan Terblanche
14. Luzuko Vulindlu
13. Waylon Murray
12. Riaan Swanepoel
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Monty Dumond
9. Rory Kockott
8. Ryan Kankowski
7. Jean Deysel
6. Keegan Daniel
5. Steven Sykes
4. Alistair Hargreaves
3. Jannie du Plessis
2. Craig Burden
1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:
16. Bismarck du Plessis
17. John Smit
18. Johann Muller
19. Jacques Botes
20. Charl McLeod
21. Andries Strauss
22. Odwa Ndungane
23. Patric Cilliers
24. Willem Alberts
25. Gerhard Mostert
26. Patrick Lambie
27. Adrian Jacobs
28. JP Pietersen
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Wheres that Jean Stemmet bloke?
I’m still battling away to find the logic behind this team selection. Gimme a few more hours 🙂
@Miguel (Comment 1) : not in the squad for the warmups. I struggle to understand why not.
We are so obviously crying out for fresh ideas in the centres and yet we leave the new boys at home.
in fact, this is just such a Plumtree team… There just doesn’t appear to be any real spark to it. Burden will have a lot to prove, but the loose forward mix looks a lot like the same one that failed last year.
Let’s hope the wingers see some ball. That pair could make for some fireworks
Interesting!! The locks would be my 1 st choice….Front row powerful….i like Burden …and Jannie Du Plessis a better bet at 3 than Smit. Wingers are 2 nd choice?
Personally i am looking forward to seeing Steve Meyer Fri evening….
@robdylan (Comment 2) : i dont think that the team to play the Chiefs come 13 Feb will resemble this to much
@grant10 (Comment 5) : you’d pick Hargreaves ahead of either Mostert or Muller? Really?
I just don’t see enough spark from 9-13. I guess Monty and Swannie are going to have to get us through as a 10-12 combo, but I reckon putting Kockott inside them means they’ll see little ball. Anything useful that they can move wide might be wasted by crabman… hope I’m wrong!
@grant10 (Comment 5) : Personally i dont think Lwazi is second Choice!! He is very talented
@Miguel (Comment 6) : I think it will look like
Beast, Bis, John, Sykes, Muller, Botes, Deysel, Kanko, McLeod, Dumond, JP, Jacobs, Murray, Odwa, Stef
@robdylan (Comment 9) : Yeah although i wouldnt pick botes and maybe i would go swannie and jacobs instead
Miguel….dont really know much about the 2 wingers….although Mvovo tackle on o driscoll was special…
Rob…yes…i like Hargreaves…i believe he will be a star….
As for the w alberts and Ludick soap opera….give he lions Bissy in exchange….problem solved.
@robdylan (Comment 9) : and no Mcleod WHAT THE HELL!!!! Kockott all the way what is plum doing
@grant10 (Comment 11) : f* that. If the Lions want Bissie, they must hoes 🙂
@Miguel (Comment 12) : Kockott stifles the backline. McLeod lets it flow. We score tries with McLeod there.
Guys, anyone who lives in Cape Town should try get down to Quay Four this evening. There’s a live Q&A session with the three teams playing in the warmups
@robdylan (Comment 13) : Fair enough , on this one we can agree to disagree haha, i do see your point although i believe kockott inserts a lot of neccessary bite and a good kicking game
@robdylan (Comment 13) : LOL
Thought that may be the response…..2 for the price of 1 ?
That problem not going to go away….Lions have dug heels in ….i reckon a lot of tears over this issue still….
@robdylan (Comment 14) : would be better if i didnt voce my opinion to smit about his tighthead story so close to the ocean….he may toss me in.!
@grant10 (Comment 17) : Barney’s a good sort, but I fear it may be something of a sore point for him right now 🙂
@grant10 (Comment 16) : Let’s hope Willem gets onto the field tomorrow night, so that at least we can understand which way Ferreira wants to play this one. We can’t be in limbo forever.
The other advantage is that him and Wolla can crock Pretorius before the competition even starts 🙂
@Miguel (Comment 15) : don’t get me wrong… I reckon the Monkey is a phenomenally talented rugby player. But he needs some bench time to get the muscle in his head working right.
@grant10 (Comment 16) : I reckon if you go do an independent market analysis, you’ll find that price(Bismarck) >> (price (Ludik) + price (Alberts) )
@robdylan (Comment 20) : LOL
I understand the maths…hope its resolved sooner rather than later…reflects poorly on all concerned i am afraid.
@grant10 (Comment 21) : yes… neither side is coming out of this one smelling of anything other than poo 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 2) :
It’s easy pick a team and put the rest on the bench. I feel sorry for the 1 or mayeb two guys who didn’t make the match 28. 😛
Just happy they gonna show this match!
@RugbyGal (Comment 24) : I mean the Stormers vs Sharks match! 😳
1st thing: Why start with the tried and tested? 2nd thing: How much game time can every player expect to play… 40mins each? 3d thing: I wonder who will the 2 lucky guys be that gets 80mins of playtime? 4th thing: Where is Jean Stemmet? 5th thing: Am I asking to much questions? 😛
@KSA Shark © (Comment 23) : there are only 28 in the squad 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 27) :
thought as much but wasn’t sure 😆
@robdylan (Comment 7) : i would. he’s bit lacking in constitution but guess sykes can take care of that one.
@robdylan (Comment 9) : agreed with teo/three exception kockott will leapfrog to first choice scrummie, swannie & jacobs. waylon will have to crawl his way back to starting spot.
@robdylan (Comment 9) :
No place for Riaan?
No Ludik?
Did he even make the final squad?
@Hmmm (Comment 32) : i think he’s still recovering
@robdylan (Comment 27) :
That answers my question in the previous post…lol
I heard he does not even have a contract…
Think he might pop back to the LIONS?? Should they then take him back??
@rekinek (Comment 33) :
From what?
@Hmmm (Comment 35) : this leg injury. can’t remember exactly – the one that happened during the lions v lions game if I recall correctly.
Oh I see we talk rugby is the new name of the LIONS site…lol
Well they should stop talking and start playing rugby…lol
@rekinek (Comment 36) : correct. He destroyed the cruciate ligament in one of his knees. Surprised Hmmm didn’t know that!
On there it says if Alberts takes the field “there will be consequences” LoL
@Hmmm (Comment 37) : 😆
@robdylan (Comment 38) :
Oh I don’t follows ex-LIONS…lol
Oh I just checked the players and there is no Benjamin (sjoe!??!)
Seems like a good squad…only problem is we do not have a decent Flyhalf…every other position seems ok…Rose is in the squad as a Full back (good choice)…just no back-up for him…
@Hmmm (Comment 42) :
Carlos Spencer is a flyhalf?? 🙄
Do you even know who he is???
great team. pretty close to one i would have fielded. the boks get some much needed rest, because it is obvious what they are able to do. johan muller gets a few more days to rest his arm. rory gets a chance to prove his worth. as much as i despise rory’s selfishness i do admire the guts he shows. hopefully he has learnt how to pass. monty and burden get a chance to impress and zuks gets to show he isn’t as shocking as last seasons performance. i wouldn’t have put stefan in as it would have been nice to see what lambie has to contribute, but i understand stefan is there as a leader. waylon and riaan get some time valuable together. overall this is a great mix.
it is important to start with your first choice players, as it creates stability on the park and then during the game throw in some rookies to see what they offer. but if you start with a team of rookies and everyone is running around like headless chickens, you waste a warmup game and learn nothing.
i am also pleased that alberts is on the bench so we can give him a run and get saru interested. i always enjoy a good battle to get saru off their lazy butts.
Hope you lot will give us a livewire again like saturday. Kleitie, hoes it my bru, jy was chuff gewees.
what time is this game? any chance for some live commentary?
19h00, luckily, pretty damn hot at the moment.
@rekinek (Comment 48) : yeah – reckon young Clayite will step up to the plate for us again.
Also know that a few others, including Molly and CapeShark will be there.
@robdylan (Comment 50) : cool – though PJLD was apparently getting distracted last time
@rekinek (Comment 51) : not that I’m ungrateful.
@rekinek (Comment 52) : no… definitely not.
we just need to keep fingers crossed that Claytie can manage to get hold of a laptop…
@robdylan (Comment 53) : bit difficult to type – but i guess I can manage
@rekinek (Comment 54) : cheeky 🙂
When will the Farce name their team?
@PaarlBok (Comment 56) : they won’t… we’ll just have to see who runs out
anyone going to the game able to post score updates via their phone or something?
@robdylan (Comment 55) : survival technique 😉
Think Kleitie is still waiting for his bottle Wellington Charge Office Coffee for saturdays sweat. 😎
@PaarlBok (Comment 60) : nice one 🙂
@rekinek (Comment 59) : tough old world… funny thing is, the safety netst that are in place only protect the witless. Those of us with brains really need to use them just to stay out of trouble
@robdylan (Comment 62) : are you suggesting I have a brain 😯 is this in fashion